Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. The tags contain electronically stored information. An RFID reader includes a receiver that can decode the electronically stored information. Some tags are powered by electromagnetic induction from magnetic fields produced near the reader. Some types collect energy from the interrogating radio waves and act as a passive transponder. Other types of tags have a local power source such as a battery and may operate at hundreds of meters from the reader.
RFID tags are used in a variety of environments, such as in health care, retail or commercial spaces, and industrial warehouses. In a healthcare environment, such as a hospital or clinic, the environment can include a variety of information systems, such as hospital information systems (HIS), radiology information systems (RIS), clinical information systems (CIS), and cardiovascular information systems (CVIS), and storage systems, such as picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), library information systems (LIS), and electronic medical records (EMR). These systems may store a variety of information such as patient medication orders, medical histories, imaging data, test results, diagnosis information, management information, and/or scheduling information. A retail or commercial space can also include a variety of information systems, such as a point-of-sale system, a payment information processing system, an inventory management system, and other such systems. These systems may also store a variety of information such as inventory types and amounts, how long a given inventory item has been displayed, how often a given inventory item has been sold, and other such information.
The effectiveness of a healthcare system can be determined by the interaction between the healthcare resources. Adverse events that occur in hospitals, such as hospital-acquired infections, lost or missing assets, etc., result in patient harm, increased recovery time, loss of a hospital's and its staff's capacity to serve, unreimbursed healthcare costs, and, generally, increased healthcare costs. One of the main causes of these events is non-adherence to protocols. Protocols can refer to a series of preferred or prescribed tasks that (1) have been proven to reduce adverse events and (2) effect a desired elimination of activities, practices, or patterns that create harm or inefficiency. Example uses of such protocols are for hand washing, fall prevention, rounding, pain management, sleep improvement and physical therapy.
Similarly, the effectiveness of a retail space can be determined by how often inventory items sell or whether a given portion of the retail space is being frequented by customers. Increases in customer visits to a particular location in a store may indicate that customers have an interest in items being sold in that particular location, while decreases in customer visits to other parts of a store may indicate that customers are no longer interested in the items being sold in that part of the store. Thus, locations in a store experiencing a decrease in customer visits impact profitability as the items in those locations are less likely to be sold.